Sunday, December 4
Bethlehem, Pa.
2:00 PM
Lehigh University
vs
Penn State
Photo by: Hannahally Photography
No. 18 Lehigh Welcomes No. 1 Penn State to Sold-Out Stabler Arena Sunday
12/1/2022 9:14:00 AM | Men's Wrestling
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Following a break for the Thanksgiving holiday, No. 18 Lehigh is set to host top-ranked and defending national champion Penn State Sunday in a sold-out Stabler Arena. The dual will mark the 110th meeting of Lehigh's most-contested series. The Mountain Hawks are looking to bounce back from a 22-12 loss at Pitt on Nov. 19, a dual that saw the Mountain Hawks lead 12-6 at the halfway point, only to have the host Panthers claim the final five bouts. Sophomores Connor McGonagle and Max Brignola and senior Josh Humphreys picked up wins at Pitt, with Humphreys securing his first fall of the season. Penn State won its dual opener against Lock Haven on Nov. 11 and will visit Rider on Friday before making the trip to Bethlehem.
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Lehigh Probable Starters
125 No. 26 Carter Bailey (Fy., Livermore, Calif.)
133 No. 19 Connor McGonagle (So., Danville, N.H.)Â Â Â Â Â Â
141 No. 30 Malyke Hines (So., Kissimmee, Fla.)
149 Max Brignola (So., Rumson, N.J.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
       No. 26 Manzona Bryant IV (So., Columbus, Ohio) Â
157 No. 8 Josh Humphreys (Sr., Parkersburg, W. Va.)Â Â Â
165 Brian Meyer (Jr., Phillipsburg, N.J.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
174 Jake Logan (So., New Rochelle, N.Y.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
184 No. 22 Tate Samuelson (Gr., Castle Rock, Colo.)Â Â Â Â
197 No. 9 Michael Beard (So., Reading, Pa.)Â Â Â Â Â
285 No. 22 Nathan Taylor (Fy., Brookville, Pa.)
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A second period pin by senior Josh Humphreys gave No. 13 Lehigh a 12-6 lead at the halfway point, but No. 17 Pitt won the final five bouts to claim a 22-12 victory over the Mountain Hawks Nov. 19 at Fitzgerald Field House. On a night in which Lehigh wrestlers defeated a pair of top 15-ranked opponents, Pitt had the upper hand in the upper weights to claim the victory. In addition to Humphreys' pin, sophomore Connor McGonagle upset eighth-ranked Micky Phillippi 5-4 at 133, Lehigh's second win over Phillippi in as many seasons. Sophomore Max Brignola added a 7-6 win at 149 for the brown and white.
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After competing at 141 in his first two seasons, sophomore Connor McGonagle is making the most of his move down to 133. McGonagle is 4-1 on the season with three victories over ranked opponents. McGonagle opened the season with a win over Oregon State's Jason Shaner and also owns ranked wins over Oklahoma's Wyatt Henson and last time out, Pitt's eighth-ranked Micky Phillippi. McGonagle finished third and then fourth at the EIWA Championships at 141 over the last two seasons and is a two-time NCAA qualifier. He is up to No. 19 in the latest InterMat rankings.
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Lehigh will face its first top five-ranked opponent of the season Sunday after the Mountain Hawks faced three top five foes last year. The Mountain Hawks own five dual wins over top five teams under Pat Santoro including two (No. 4 Oklahoma State and No. 5 Arizona State) during the 2019-20 season. In addition, Lehigh has defeated No. 1 Cornell in 2010-11, No. 3 Ohio State in 2014-15 and No. 4 Michigan in 2017-18. All of Lehigh's top five wins under Santoro have come at home except for the win over Ohio State, which came at the NWCA National Duals in Iowa City, Iowa.
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Sunday's dual against Penn State will mark Lehigh's seventh dual against a team ranked No. 1 in the NWCA dual meet poll in Pat Santoro's tenure as head coach. Lehigh wrestled No. 1 Iowa at the 2021 Collegiate Wrestling Duals and before that the prior four instances where the Mountain Hawks faced a top-ranked team, the opponent was Penn State (2013-14, 2015-16, 2017-18 and 2018-19). The Mountain Hawks defeated No. 1 Cornell at Stabler Arena in January 2011 for Lehigh's first and only win in any sport against a team ranked No. 1 in the country.
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Over the last decade-plus, visits from Penn State have brought some of the largest Lehigh wrestling crowds in program history. Five years ago, Lehigh nearly upset Penn State in front of a Lehigh home dual meet record crowd of 9,896 at PPL Center in Allentown. Penn State's last visit to Stabler Arena three years ago saw a Stabler Arena dual meet record of 6,047 in attendance. Five of the top six home dual meet crowds and four of the top five Stabler Arena crowds in Lehigh history have come against Penn State. The Grace Hall record attendance is 4,650 from a Lehigh-Navy dual on February 4, 1967.
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Lehigh has a wrestler ranked in eight out of 10 weight classes in the latest rankings from InterMat. Seven Mountain Hawks are ranked by WrestleStat, while five Mountain Hawks are ranked by FloWrestling and four by Amateur Wrestling News. Senior Josh Humphreys (157) and sophomore Michael Beard (197) appear in the top 12 in all four polls, with Humphreys the highest-ranked Mountain Hawk according to all four outlets. Sophomore Connor McGonagle is now ranked by all four outlets at 133 after a 4-1 start that includes a three ranked victories. InterMat and WrestleStat both rank wrestlers from 1-33, FloWrestling ranks 1-24 plus honorable mentions and Amateur Wrestling News ranks 1-20.
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Top-ranked Penn State visits Rider Friday night before the Nittany Lions visit Stabler Arena on Sunday. The Nittany Lions have won five of the last six and nine of the last 11 NCAA team championships, including last year's triumph in Detroit. Penn State opened this season with a dominant home win over Lock Haven and then had 11 out of 13 entrants place at the Black Knight Open, an event where the Nittany Lions claimed five individual titles. Nine Penn State wrestlers appear in the latest InterMat rankings including four No. 1-ranked grapplers, all of who won NCAA titles last March. Roman Bravo-Young (133), Carter Starocci (174) and Aaron Brooks (184) are all two-time NCAA champions, while Max Dean won his first title at 197 last year. NCAA wrestling legend Cael Sanderson is in his 14th season as Penn State's head coach.
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Penn State serves as Lehigh's most-often wrestled opponent. Sunday's dual marks the 110th meeting of Lehigh's most-contested series. Lehigh and Penn State met at least once in 87 consecutive seasons before the 2020-21 meeting was erased due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Nittany Lions have won the last 11 duals in the series. Lehigh won the first two duals with Penn State under Pat Santoro, but Santoro is now 2-11 versus the Nittany Lions as Lehigh's head coach. The Mountain Hawks' last dual win over the Nittany Lions was Cael Sanderson's first dual as Penn State head coach in Nov. 2009.
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Sunday's dual begins at 2 p.m. from Stabler Arena. The match is sold out. Fans unable to secure tickets can watch locally on Service Electric Network or stream the dual on FloWrestling.org.
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Following a break for final exams, Lehigh will close out 2022 at the Collegiate Wrestling Duals, Dec. 19-20 in New Orleans, La. The Mountain Hawks will wrestle Cal Poly and NC State in pool action on Dec. 19 and then will wrestle an opponent to be determined on Dec. 20. Lehigh will open the 2023 portion of its schedule with road duals at Cornell and Binghamton, Jan. 14-15.
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The 2022-23 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
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Like Lehigh Wrestling on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
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Lehigh Probable Starters
125 No. 26 Carter Bailey (Fy., Livermore, Calif.)
133 No. 19 Connor McGonagle (So., Danville, N.H.)Â Â Â Â Â Â
141 No. 30 Malyke Hines (So., Kissimmee, Fla.)
149 Max Brignola (So., Rumson, N.J.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
       No. 26 Manzona Bryant IV (So., Columbus, Ohio) Â
157 No. 8 Josh Humphreys (Sr., Parkersburg, W. Va.)Â Â Â
165 Brian Meyer (Jr., Phillipsburg, N.J.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
174 Jake Logan (So., New Rochelle, N.Y.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
184 No. 22 Tate Samuelson (Gr., Castle Rock, Colo.)Â Â Â Â
197 No. 9 Michael Beard (So., Reading, Pa.)Â Â Â Â Â
285 No. 22 Nathan Taylor (Fy., Brookville, Pa.)
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A second period pin by senior Josh Humphreys gave No. 13 Lehigh a 12-6 lead at the halfway point, but No. 17 Pitt won the final five bouts to claim a 22-12 victory over the Mountain Hawks Nov. 19 at Fitzgerald Field House. On a night in which Lehigh wrestlers defeated a pair of top 15-ranked opponents, Pitt had the upper hand in the upper weights to claim the victory. In addition to Humphreys' pin, sophomore Connor McGonagle upset eighth-ranked Micky Phillippi 5-4 at 133, Lehigh's second win over Phillippi in as many seasons. Sophomore Max Brignola added a 7-6 win at 149 for the brown and white.
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After competing at 141 in his first two seasons, sophomore Connor McGonagle is making the most of his move down to 133. McGonagle is 4-1 on the season with three victories over ranked opponents. McGonagle opened the season with a win over Oregon State's Jason Shaner and also owns ranked wins over Oklahoma's Wyatt Henson and last time out, Pitt's eighth-ranked Micky Phillippi. McGonagle finished third and then fourth at the EIWA Championships at 141 over the last two seasons and is a two-time NCAA qualifier. He is up to No. 19 in the latest InterMat rankings.
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Lehigh will face its first top five-ranked opponent of the season Sunday after the Mountain Hawks faced three top five foes last year. The Mountain Hawks own five dual wins over top five teams under Pat Santoro including two (No. 4 Oklahoma State and No. 5 Arizona State) during the 2019-20 season. In addition, Lehigh has defeated No. 1 Cornell in 2010-11, No. 3 Ohio State in 2014-15 and No. 4 Michigan in 2017-18. All of Lehigh's top five wins under Santoro have come at home except for the win over Ohio State, which came at the NWCA National Duals in Iowa City, Iowa.
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Sunday's dual against Penn State will mark Lehigh's seventh dual against a team ranked No. 1 in the NWCA dual meet poll in Pat Santoro's tenure as head coach. Lehigh wrestled No. 1 Iowa at the 2021 Collegiate Wrestling Duals and before that the prior four instances where the Mountain Hawks faced a top-ranked team, the opponent was Penn State (2013-14, 2015-16, 2017-18 and 2018-19). The Mountain Hawks defeated No. 1 Cornell at Stabler Arena in January 2011 for Lehigh's first and only win in any sport against a team ranked No. 1 in the country.
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Over the last decade-plus, visits from Penn State have brought some of the largest Lehigh wrestling crowds in program history. Five years ago, Lehigh nearly upset Penn State in front of a Lehigh home dual meet record crowd of 9,896 at PPL Center in Allentown. Penn State's last visit to Stabler Arena three years ago saw a Stabler Arena dual meet record of 6,047 in attendance. Five of the top six home dual meet crowds and four of the top five Stabler Arena crowds in Lehigh history have come against Penn State. The Grace Hall record attendance is 4,650 from a Lehigh-Navy dual on February 4, 1967.
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Lehigh has a wrestler ranked in eight out of 10 weight classes in the latest rankings from InterMat. Seven Mountain Hawks are ranked by WrestleStat, while five Mountain Hawks are ranked by FloWrestling and four by Amateur Wrestling News. Senior Josh Humphreys (157) and sophomore Michael Beard (197) appear in the top 12 in all four polls, with Humphreys the highest-ranked Mountain Hawk according to all four outlets. Sophomore Connor McGonagle is now ranked by all four outlets at 133 after a 4-1 start that includes a three ranked victories. InterMat and WrestleStat both rank wrestlers from 1-33, FloWrestling ranks 1-24 plus honorable mentions and Amateur Wrestling News ranks 1-20.
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Top-ranked Penn State visits Rider Friday night before the Nittany Lions visit Stabler Arena on Sunday. The Nittany Lions have won five of the last six and nine of the last 11 NCAA team championships, including last year's triumph in Detroit. Penn State opened this season with a dominant home win over Lock Haven and then had 11 out of 13 entrants place at the Black Knight Open, an event where the Nittany Lions claimed five individual titles. Nine Penn State wrestlers appear in the latest InterMat rankings including four No. 1-ranked grapplers, all of who won NCAA titles last March. Roman Bravo-Young (133), Carter Starocci (174) and Aaron Brooks (184) are all two-time NCAA champions, while Max Dean won his first title at 197 last year. NCAA wrestling legend Cael Sanderson is in his 14th season as Penn State's head coach.
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Penn State serves as Lehigh's most-often wrestled opponent. Sunday's dual marks the 110th meeting of Lehigh's most-contested series. Lehigh and Penn State met at least once in 87 consecutive seasons before the 2020-21 meeting was erased due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Nittany Lions have won the last 11 duals in the series. Lehigh won the first two duals with Penn State under Pat Santoro, but Santoro is now 2-11 versus the Nittany Lions as Lehigh's head coach. The Mountain Hawks' last dual win over the Nittany Lions was Cael Sanderson's first dual as Penn State head coach in Nov. 2009.
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Sunday's dual begins at 2 p.m. from Stabler Arena. The match is sold out. Fans unable to secure tickets can watch locally on Service Electric Network or stream the dual on FloWrestling.org.
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Following a break for final exams, Lehigh will close out 2022 at the Collegiate Wrestling Duals, Dec. 19-20 in New Orleans, La. The Mountain Hawks will wrestle Cal Poly and NC State in pool action on Dec. 19 and then will wrestle an opponent to be determined on Dec. 20. Lehigh will open the 2023 portion of its schedule with road duals at Cornell and Binghamton, Jan. 14-15.
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The 2022-23 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
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| Date: | December 4, 2022 |
| Opponent: | No. 1 Penn State |
| First match: | 2:05 p.m. |
| Arena: | Stabler Arena |
| Location: | Bethlehem, Pa. |
| Lehigh's record: | 3-2 overall, 1-0 EIWA |
| Penn State's record: | 1-0 overall, 0-0 Big Ten |
| Series: | Penn State leads 72-34-3 |
| Television: | Service Electric Network 2/502 |
| Radio: | No Lehigh radio |
| Internet broadcast: | Video on FloWrestling.org |
Like Lehigh Wrestling on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
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Players Mentioned
125
/ Men's Wrestling
197
/ Men's Wrestling
149
/ Men's Wrestling
149
/ Men's Wrestling
133
/ Men's Wrestling
157
/ Men's Wrestling
174
/ Men's Wrestling
141
/ Men's Wrestling
165
/ Men's Wrestling
184
/ Men's Wrestling
285
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